Book Review: "Sons of Thunder" by Susan May Warren

Sophie Frangos is torn between the love of two men and the promise that binds them all together. Markos Stavros loves Sophie from afar while battling his thirst for vengeance and his hunger for honor. Dino, his quiet and intelligent brother, simply wants to forget the horror that drove them from their Greek island home to start a new life in America. One of these sons of thunder offers a future she longs for, the other the past she lost. From the sultry Chicago jazz clubs of the roaring twenties to the World War II battlefields of Europe to a final showdown in a Greek island village, they'll discover betrayal, sacrifice and finally redemption. Most of all, when Sophie is forced to make her choice, she'll learn that God honors the promises made by the Sons of Thunder.

While I'm not really a World War II fan (or even a European history fan), this book really made me enjoy learning about both. I don't know much about Greek culture so this book gave a good primer into the lifestyle. It was nice reading about them because so many other books from the same time period focus on other European immigrants. This book gave that same story of finding a new life in American but from a different culture.

I really enjoyed all the historical research that went into the book. I loved how the book takes the reader from Greece to the US and then to the war. It's not all happy and safe locales either. I really appreciate how the the grittier side of the US is shown because it's historically accurate for the time period. I loved how the jazz clubs were featured as that is a time period in history that I am deeply fond of and love reading about in book. Other Christian novels tend to shy away from the grittiness of these times but I say bring on more realism. Even though this book is Christian fiction, this story is more of an faith story than being straight up preachy. There is no big conversion scene or even character speaking outright about their faith. It's more of a redemption story that is an allegory than speaking straight forward.

If you are a fan of historical fiction, you will really enjoy this book. Warren is known for really good romantic suspense and this added ingredient of historical research really adds a nice layer to the combination. I'm not sure if the next book in the series will feature the same characters but either way I know I will be looking forward to it.

Sons of Thunder by Susan May Warren is published by Summerside (2010)

This review copy was provided by LitFuse for a blog tour

Other blogs on the tour: http://www.litfusegroup.com/Blog-Tours/sons-of-thunder-by-susan-may-warren.html


CONTEST
!
Be sure to check out Susan's fun contest for the book's release: Each one of us has a wealth of stories from the past – while they might not all be as sweeping and dramatic as that of Sons of Thunder’s Sofia and the Stravos brothers (swoon), your family history is a treasure nonetheless.

Well – let’s hear them! Were your great-grandparents ‘fresh off the boat’? Was your great uncle a war hero? Did your grandmother make unbelievable sacrifices to help or protect the family? Did your father harbor a family secret until his death? Are you related to someone famous? Do you have a family treasure? Whatever it is that is unique in your family history – share your story HERE! (click on the SHARE button) One grand prize winner will receive:

• Memory Prize package containing a gift certificate to create your own hard cover photo book
• 6 month membership to Netflix (to satisfy that flick fix!)
• Signed copy of Sons of Thunder!

5 runners up will also win signed copies of Sons of Thunder!

You can also be entered to win a copy of Sons of Thunder by helping us Spread the Word during the blog tour!

TWEET THIS:(must use hashtag #SonsofThunder to be entered - no limit on entries! Tweet away!)
Please RT! @susanmaywarren launches new Romantic Suspense #SonsofThunder. Share your story 2 win a fab prize pack! http://ow.ly/1digM

Comments

  1. Carrie10:05 AM

    This book sounds like one I would definitely enjoy. Glad you shared about it! Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Luigi | UPrinting1:13 AM

    The thing that interests me about this book is that I'll get the chance to learn about the Greek culture and World War II. You did a nice review. Thanks.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Amy10:37 AM

    I actually thought the faith elements seemed a bit forced but maybe not. Maybe I'm just hyper sensitive to outright faith talk. I need to think about that. :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anna11:58 AM

    I don't know much about WWII Greece, so this one sounds interesting. Thanks for the review.

    I hope it's okay that I linked to your review on the Book Reviews: WWII page on War Through the Generations.

    --Anna
    Diary of an Eccentric

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Thanks for stopping by my blog and leaving your thoughts. Comments on posts that are older than 14 days are moderated so don't worry if your comment doesn't show up automatically.

Popular posts from this blog

Book Review and Giveaway: "The Host" by Stephenie Meyer

Image
I'm giving away 5 brand new copies of today's book! Leave a comment with your email address so I can contact you if you win. I'll pick a name and announce the winners on Friday July 3 . US and Canada addresses only (No PO Boxes). Good luck! PLEASE LEAVE A WAY FO R ME TO CONTACT YOU!!!! ENTRIES WITHOUT CONTACT INFO WILL NOT BE ENTERED. I was more than pleasantly surprised and shocked while reading this book. I have the first three books of the Twilight series and I will admit that I am not really a fan of them. The writing in those books is not very well done, plus I have problems with the storyline and the characters in general. Plus with all the hype surrounding them, it just makes the reading seem more tedious. Therefore I approached The Host with rather low expectations and prepared myself for another Twilight except with aliens. Boy was I in for a shocker. When I started reading, I was amazed at how I got sucked into the book. I really didn't expect to, be...
Read more

Triple Threat

Image
It's here! Today is my 3 year blogiversary! (Never mind tha t the first entry is marked on 9/20, I had written that post the day after and then backdated it) . I can't believe that I'm still here and blogging away! As al ways, the reason why I started blogging was thanks to Camy Tang's blog which inspired m e to write my own blog. My main goal was to blog about the books I read because I figured I'd like others to know about the good books that were ou t there . I honestly can't believe that it's lasted this long and I hope to keep going strong. I've met so many new friends in the past year alone and I've even gotten to meet several in person and I'm going to meet more next week at the National Book Festival! I'd also like to say thank you to those who nominated me for Best Cultural Review Blog for the 2009 BBAW Awards. It's truly been an honor that you considered me for that award and even more awesome that I made the shortlist...
Read more

Lost Mission by Athol Dickson

Image
It is time for a FIRST Wild Card Tour book review! If you wish to join the FIRST blog alliance, just click the button. We are a group of reviewers who tour Christian books. A Wild Card post includes a brief bio of the author and a full chapter from each book toured. The reason it is called a FIRST Wild Card Tour is that you never know if the book will be fiction, non~fiction, for young, or for old...or for somewhere in between! Enjoy your free peek into the book! You never know when I might play a wild card on you! Today's Wild Card author is: Athol Dickson and the book: Lost Mission Howard Books (September 15, 2009) ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Athol Dickson is an award-winning author of several novels. His Christy Award-winning novel River Rising was name one of the “Top Ten Christian Novel of 2006” by Booklist magazine. He lives in California with his wife. Visit the author's website . AND NOW...THE FIRST CHAPTER: Lost Mission By Athol Dickson [Howard Fiction Logo] Published by ...
Read more